Report of The French Reenactment Event at The Castle of Montaiguillon Easter 2002 - 29.3.-1.4.2002 This is my personal report of the meeting of French reenactors at the ruins of castle Montaiguillon about 100km southeast of Paris. This account intends to inform the ones not attending about the event and hopes to initiate a discussion among the ones that enjoyed the weekend with us. Comments by other peoples are added to the report at the end. Montaiguillon is an annual meeting place for French reenactors of the Middle Ages. It was held for the 5th or 6th time and has an open invitation policy. About 200 people attended the event with a share of about 1/3 15th century people and a 1/4 Early Middle Ages (=Dark Age) characters. People came from all over France, with another 30 Belgians present. Colin Kendal from England and us three Swiss were definitively a minority. I have been warned before i went to Montaiguillon about the character of the event and the low standards of the most people present. Keeping that in mind i was surprised by the good atmosphere and by many of the people i met. I think events as these should be judged for what they intend to be: A place were people interested in reenactment meet, share their thoughts exchange addresses and talk about the upcoming season. Furthermore a small market was held on Sunday that gave the opportunity to purchase many things one fails to get usually if one lacks the right address. From what i heard, the level of authenticity (or whatever you want to call it) is on the rise with every year at Montaiguillon. If therefore Montaiguillon is taken as an indicator for the state of the affairs of French reenactment, the conlusion might be that the average is on its way up. This interpretation is backed by the view i got from what i saw between the walls of a very romantic castle with four surviving major towers and 5m of walls around it. People would camp into the main court or the first court as we did. This court was densely covered with about forty tents and gave an impression of a heavily reinforced garrison in a half-ruined castle. Combined with the castle garden, a well and the entry to the caves this was a terrific look. This leads us to the tents. "Past Tents" must have made a fortune with all the groups present. Many custom made ones were painted - mostly with gothic motives - and looked very impressive. This is a hint on the improving state of affairs. The same is true for costumes. Being aware that my doublet is a piece of crap with short arms and a non-fitting collar i was in a delicate position to give advice on costume. But accidently being a member of the Company of St. George people kept asking me detailed questions on hundreds of things - i hardly had a satisfying answer for 10 percent of them. At the moment many of the people are in a state in between. They have one or two great pieces, but still have to wear old shoes, their old belt, old hat or as i - their old doublet. But being as eager as they are, i am quite sure they will improve. A good example is the Massenie Saint Michel, with whom we shared the camp. They gave themselves two years for the transition into what they call an 'authentic living history company'. Half a year has passed and they show good progress. However, financial and personal reasons do not allow everyone to keep up with the speed of some the more initiative members. The result is the state i described above - You see better and less good looking costume side a side, while the joint or company possessions usually fall a bit behind. Now being asked for advice on costume, many people seem to use the 'Medieval Soldier'-Book ('La vie quotidienne au XVe siècle' in French) as a prime source rather than inspiration. This leads to the reproduction of errors (Most errors in the book are harder to tell than than the glasses of the smith or the torch in one of the huts) and no evolution of our knowledge. Reenactment is about research: Please do go to the original paintings, archaeological reports, museum artifacts and written accounts instead of copying costumes on ten years old photos! But what would people do in a three days camp without any public present apart from enjoying the excellent weather in the spring sun? The people would really mix with other groups, i got to know many many people that did not care about my German inspired French and exchanged addresses with lots of them. The fire would be burning until late and albeit there was plenty of alcohol and a Hypocras contest i saw less drunken people than i had expected. Many different kinds of games were played on the grass and it was very nice to examine tools and costumes of different medieval periods than ours. But maybe for most of the people present the battles were the center of the event. About 80 guys and some girls would take part in about eight attacks during Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I am rather a battle tourist than a true soldier, so i can not really comment on what i saw. However, considering the frowzy way the black powder was handled and the guns were used, i guess it is only a matter of time until an accident happens. As powder accidents tend to be severe i would strongly suggest strict security procedures being undertaken. Maybe the people within our Company who suffered from these kind of accidents (and lost an arm for example) prevent us from such an underestimation of the dangers of black powder. That being said, let's turn to the medieval market on Sunday: About twenty people (most of them being artisans) had a stand. I liked the idea, that everyone had the opportunity to sell his home-cast buckles, his old blade or the five pouches sewn during the winter. Some of the stands had impressive quality work on their tables. Among these were a producer of local pilgrim badges, some pottery and shoes reaching the standard of archaeological reproductions. Of course, most of the stands sold rather low quality, but the remaining stands were more than worth the visit. Now how to sum up the event? Considering what the organizers try to do at Montaiguillon i must say i quite liked what i saw. When i have the time, i will go back next year. Are you still interested in large medieval camps? There is one hosted by the Company of St. George focusing on the 2nd half of the 15th century event. The event will be held during Pentecost (17.5.-19.5.2002) in the wider vicinity of Frankfurt a.M. (D). Please address yourself to Dietrich Pott (pott-zonsius@web.de) if you want to know more about it. 200 people are said to have agreed to come so far. And then a final word on this kind of report. I do by no means want to judge anyone for what they do in reenactment. All i want is to share my thoughts with a wider audience to empower others to participate in the information. This can not be an objective view, but i tried to be fair. If you reject my position, let me know and i will send your remarks uncommented to the same list of addressees. Christian Folini, Company of St. George --- http://www.companie-of-st-george.ch - the web site http://www.companie-of-st-george.ch/dragons_1.phtml - our magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments by - Fred Geneslay aka Follet - Thierry Baron - Mathieu Harlaut - Ingrid Lamauve - Colin Kendal dit Nicolas le Goddon -------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments by Fred Geneslay aka Follet About Montaiguillon 2002 and french reenactment by Fred Geneslay, alias Follet from "UnPossible", pilgrim badges and other accessories, and from "La Confrérie Facétieuse" Sorry for my english writing, i usually speak french, but Christian Folini made the effort to speak french at Montaiguillon Castle, so i'll try to make efforts as well... I met Christian Folini during the medieval market, where i was selling pilgrim badges i made, and i was pleased to exchange ideas, advices and addresses with other reenactors rather than make money as i should have done. This message only gives my vision about french troups and reenactment in France. To understand the actual environment, you have to know that most of the french groups were originally created in the idea of making a public "show", street performances, or so, and history was just a theme beetween others. It's my personal case since 1992, when we founded "La Confrérie Facétieuse". But with the developpement of reenactment, we saw an evolution in the troups, some new companies where created, some other change their way of working. Many members of companies create a new group to go further. And many reenactors are now members of two ore more companies, developping parts of local History. I agree with most point of view developped by Christian Folini. We are still fighting against "Medieval Soldier as a primary source", and we don't want to create a "documented Company of Saint George replica" ... But the problem also come from the lack of sources from french archaelogy, even if that point tend to be improved by exchanges existing between troups. Every federating structure failed (because the French Man is definitely individualist...) from what i can see since 1992, but documents, ideas, books references, addresses of museums, are moving and travelling through the personnal links between reenactors. Human relations are usually more important and stronger than any "authenticity rule idea", even if quality often suffer from this : Many french reenactors i know prefer to spend their time with good friends than with "good reenactors". My point of view, shared by my original company "La Confrérie Facétieuse" is to increase the quality of my own work to help friends increase theirs, if what i've done seems to be interesting to them. And i'm sure good friends can always become "good reenactors". The opposite is not always true... About technical aspects of the meeting : i agree with Christian Folini about black powder. I also practise "artillery", and we no longer take big guns with us at Montaiguillon, because security rules are... ?? very rare ? I only use a very small handgun in that place, and even this one as nothing to do during that kind of battle. This problem is frequently discussed but unfortunately nothing seems to change, except the increasing number of guns... Wow... Individuality in french attitude is certainly a BIG problem here. i hope we will find a solution BEFORE the accident. About the tents : Past Tent did make a fortune with french groups ! But many companies tried to make self-made ones, as we did before we buy Past Tent. Unfortunately, Past Tent is often taken as a "primary source"... But this will change of course even if cost and time are often the main elements of choice. Alcohol and Hypocras sellers also made fortune with french and belgian groups, but i was also surprised and pleased to see less drunken people than during the previous meetings. i personnaly like to drink, and often more than i should beside the fire in the evening, but i was not very pleased to see drunken people falling in my tent and breaking ceramic or glass two years ago... These scenes also tend to change and become more rare. The most important point in the actuel french reenactment is the evolution and improving efforts. We began very low, but very few companies have a "static" attitude. I feel an enthousiastic athmosphere of progress and that is a good thing. But one point is missing in the report that Christian Folini made. The meeting of Montaiguillon only gives a truncated view of each company. Private meetings is still a quite new idea in France (four or five years), and for technical, personnal or financial reasons, we can only come with a part of the company (people and tents), and the small place does not allow a complete camp for each company. And this imply a different organisation, sometimes less efforts in "authenticity" because the public is not present. I personnally think that hiding modern objects is a wrong way of working ( why should we take modern objects with us during reenactment ?), but lazyness is also a french specificity that i share with many members of my company. And the meeting of Montaiguillon was frequently considered as a "cool moment" before the beginning of the season, however it tends to become a real "ambiance meeting", where we sometimes have "short milliseconds of History", these very short moments i'm looking for, where we feel that "something was different". ( French reenactement is also an emotional activity ). This text is a very personnal analysis of my short ten years experience, and i would be happy to learn more about other ways of considering reenactment in Europe. I hope you have understood my poor english, and that we'll have further exchanges. F. Geneslay alias Follet. Pilgrim robber from UnPossible and from La Confrérie Facétieuse PS : I was interested in Frankfurt camp, but we also have our own meeting this week-end. I would be pleased to meet people that share the same passion, so if you have another camp date where i can come, let me know. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments by Thierry Baron: Bonsoir, I agree with most part of your report but I can't be impartial about Montaiguillon because this castle was my first reenactement camp five years ago. You can imagine my costume! For that reason, in spite of the difference of quality between the different troups when someone want to "play" history reconstitution I bring him to Montaiguillon.and I hope he will feel the feelings that were mine in my own dark age:-) Montaiguillon as you see is for most of us the best site of France to share their experiences, thier knowledge but before all their love of History ( or maybe of Memory.) I think that history of France in the XV century is not yet exploited like it has to be by the companies. What about town life, court life,et... There is a model (your association) and it is difficult to make our own way (lazyness or admiration!!!) it's sure that making a "documented Company of Saint George replica" ( follet TM) is not a solution for us... "Brûle ce que tu as adoré, fier sicambre" L'évèque Rémi à Clovis ( manuel d'histoire III eme république) NB I don't speak english as well as I want to manage to express my opinion clearly. Sorry.. PS I am very interested in Frankfurt camp but I don't know yet if it's possible for me to go (XXI century has got its own requirement) thank for the invitation.. Cordialement, Thierry Baron -------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments by Mathieu Harlaut, Bonjour Fred, Je suis Mathieu Harlaut, le membre français de la Compagnie de Saint Georges qui accompagnait Christian Folini à Montaiguillon. Je voulais simplement réagir sur cette partie de ton texte. Sache d'abord que je ne peux pas me prévaloir de ton expérience, vu que j'ai rejoins la Compagnie de Saint Georges il y a 2 ans. Et cela constitue ma seule expérience dans le domaine si on ommet quelques fêtes médiévales. Il semblerait que j'ai eu plus de facilité à prendre contact avec des groupes Suisses, Allemands ou Anglais qu'avec les Français... Mon principal intérêt est "l'authenticité" historique. Contrairement à beaucoup, je n'ai pas de désir de faire du spectacle, même si le contact avec le public m'intéresse. Tout ça pour dire que j'aimerais me rapprocher de mes compatriotes, prendre contact avec des groupes et partager le maximum de connaissances avec d'autres Français afin de démentir cette foutue réputation d'individualisme. Mon autre objectif et de ramener un peu plus d'éléments Français dans la Compagnie de Saint Georges (jusqu'à preuve du contraire c'est une compagnie bourguignone et la Bourgogne est en France) et montrer à tous ces Suisses, Allemands et Anglais, que nous aussi on sait faire des choses de qualité. J'ai rencontré plein de gens ce weekend mais une sorte de réflexe médiéval m'a empêché de sortir un papier et un crayon, au contraire de Christian, et je me retrouve avec beaucoup moins de contacts que j'aurais pu en avoir. Comme beaucoup de ces personnes font partie de ton groupe, je me tourne vers toi. A bientôt j'espère, Mathieu ----------------------------------------------------------------- Comments Ingrid Lamauve Dear Follet, Nicolas forwarded your mail and I wanted to add some comments. Since I don't visit the forum, I do it by mail and in English, so you could use it on the forum if you feel like doing it. I'm part of the 4 arthur and I was in Montaiguillon, I bought one of your badge and I spent quite some time with Thierry. I also was with Nicolas at Ligerville and at Pirou, maybe this can help you identifying me. My comments are including in your mail below. Kind regards, Ingrid ======================== About Montaiguillon 2002 and french reenactment by Fred Geneslay, alias Follet from "UnPossible", pilgrim badges and other accessories, and from "La Confrérie Facétieuse" Sorry for my english writing, i usually speak french, but Christian Folini made the effort to speak french at Montaiguillon Castle, so i'll try to make efforts as well... I met Christian Folini during the medieval market, where i was selling pilgrim badges i made, and i was pleased to exchange ideas, advices and addresses with other reenactors rather than make money as i should have done. This message only gives my vision about french troups and reenactment in France. To understand the actual environment, you have to know that most of the french groups were originally created in the idea of making a public "show", street performances, or so, and history was just a theme beetween others. It's my personal case since 1992, when we founded "La Confrérie Facétieuse". IL : You could also underline that many troups came from role playing games, which is not neutral when it come to costumes or acting. That is also an explaination to the importance of sharing the activity with friends rather than sharing the activity with good re enactors. But with the developpement of reenactment, we saw an evolution in the troups, some new companies where created, some other change their way of working. Many members of companies create a new group to go further. And many reenactors are now members of two ore more companies, developping parts of local History. IL: I participated to several Montaiguillon and it is obvious that the level of equipment increases and also the motivation and involvment in history. We use to have several people looking like conan or dark vador and they are gone now or they changed. I think we should focus on that positive evolution of course keeping in mind that there is still a long way to go. I agree with most point of view developped by Christian Folini. We are still fighting against "Medieval Soldier as a primary source", and we don't want to create a "documented Company of Saint George replica" ... But the problem also come from the lack of sources from french archaelogy, even if that point tend to be improved by exchanges existing between troups. Every federating structure failed (because the French Man is definitely individualist...) from what i can see since 1992, but documents, ideas, books references, addresses of museums, are moving and travelling through the personnal links between reenactors. IL : May I add that there is a recent evolution here. References were kept secret for a long time and since "Medieval Soldier" was one of the rare public source, no wonder it was over copied. I think that one of the explaination of the secret we faced in the past was the competition between professional troups and the others. Some were doing re enactment for a living and wanted to keep their advantage. They now realize that improving the average level will be a benefit for all of us. We may also underline that English or Swiss troups, who knew (and still know) much more than us, shared their knowledge with some happy French few and didn't even talk with the others that were not considered as good enough. Contacts are now more frequent and again I think it will be a benefit for all of us. Human relations are usually more important and stronger than any "authenticity rule idea", even if quality often suffer from this : Many french reenactors i know prefer to spend their time with good friends than with "good reenactors". My point of view, shared by my original company "La Confrérie Facétieuse" is to increase the quality of my own work to help friends increase theirs, if what i've done seems to be interesting to them. And i'm sure good friends can always become "good reenactors". The opposite is not always true... IL : I fully agree on the first part. The two troups I've been in are facing this situation. As for the second part, I tend to have some doubt. You can help a friend to improve by giving advice and showing the best possible exemple but if your friend is not interrested by history, details, it is difficult to convince him that he should change part of his equipment. We may also face a financial constraint to help everyone having the right equipment. About technical aspects of the meeting : i agree with Christian Folini about black powder. I also practise "artillery", and we no longer take big guns with us at Montaiguillon, because security rules are... ?? very rare ? I only use a very small handgun in that place, and even this one as nothing to do during that kind of battle. This problem is frequently discussed but unfortunately nothing seems to change, except the increasing number of guns... Wow... Individuality in french attitude is certainly a BIG problem here. i hope we will find a solution BEFORE the accident. IL : I don't think Montaiguillon should be taken as the only exemple to draw conclusions about French re enactment. Montaiguillon is a gathering between re enactors only. You probably know that the Lances de Bretagne when they are under contract have strict safety rules. I agree that Montaiguillon is not really safe and the worst point is probably having drunk people during the battle. Nevertheless Montaiguillon since no one is under contract is a special case. About the tents : Past Tent did make a fortune with french groups ! But many companies tried to make self-made ones, as we did before we buy Past Tent. Unfortunately, Past Tent is often taken as a "primary source"... But this will change of course even if cost and time are often the main elements of choice. IL : I guess that, as we did, many compared Past tent with other French and American providers. Past tent is offering the best price quality ratio, so everyone is choosing it. As for a home made tent, the results are not consistent and I understand why we are not all going for it. Alcohol and Hypocras sellers also made fortune with french and belgian groups, but i was also surprised and pleased to see less drunken people than during the previous meetings. i personnaly like to drink, and often more than i should beside the fire in the evening, but i was not very pleased to see drunken people falling in my tent and breaking ceramic or glass two years ago... These scenes also tend to change and become more rare. IL : Again Montaiguillon is not a contract so it is not the perfect reflect of what we are usually. But I fully understand that having equipment ruined is a pity, specially for alcohol reasons. The most important point in the actuel french reenactment is the evolution and improving efforts. We began very low, but very few companies have a "static" attitude. I feel an enthousiastic athmosphere of progress and that is a good thing. IL : I agree and tend to focus on that when I'm still unhappy with what I see. I guess English troups were not perfect from the begining. But one point is missing in the report that Christian Folini made. The meeting of Montaiguillon only gives a truncated view of each company. Private meetings is still a quite new idea in France (four or five years), and for technical, personnal or financial reasons, we can only come with a part of the company (people and tents), and the small place does not allow a complete camp for each company. And this imply a different organisation, sometimes less efforts in "authenticity" because the public is not present. I personnally think that hiding modern objects is a wrong way of working ( why should we take modern objects with us during reenactment ?), but lazyness is also a french specificity that i share with many members of my company. And the meeting of Montaiguillon was frequently considered as a "cool moment" before the beginning of the season, however it tends to become a real "ambiance meeting", where we sometimes have "short milliseconds of History", these very short moments i'm looking for, where we feel that "something was different". ( French reenactement is also an emotional activity ). IL : I would also say that I also saw English troups that are perfectly fine when public is around and when the public is gone then everyone take off the costumes and turn on the radio. To some extend, the attitude is very professional : medieval at working hours and no more. As you said, some of us are more on an emotional mode, sometimes like kids acting for the fun, with no time limits. I guess we will find a middle way and I hope that we will keep the fun and the e motion and add more profesionalism in our activity. I have no doubt that could be possible. This text is a very personnal analysis of my short ten years experience, and i would be happy to learn more about other ways of considering reenactment in Europe. I hope you have understood my poor english, and that we'll have further exchanges. IL : When I went to Azincourt, I met various troups from various countries : Ireland, England, France, Germany, Belgium, Nederlands. The meeting was interesting to get to know each others and to learn from our differences. F. Geneslay alias Follet. Pilgrim robber from UnPossible and from La Confrérie Facétieuse PS : I was interested in Frankfurt camp, but we also have our own meeting this week-end. I would be pleased to meet people that share the same passion, so if you have another camp date where i can come, let me know. IL : Overall, we tend to have the same analysis of the French evolution. I would bring up another point : because we all use the same references, we tend to become very similar. You underlined the equipment point of view. I would also focus on the time period. You now found viking and 15th century. I would be happy to see more troups digging into early middle age. I would also be very happy to see some troups interrested by oriental middle age. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments by Colin Kendal Hi Christian Thank you for your message. Perhaps you will allow a few comments from the Englishman who has many years experience in re enactment and has seen some of the sad mistakes made in England. For me Montaguillon is a social event at the start and finish of the season where re enactors of all types can get together. I find there examples of the three types we recognize in England. 1) Living History. A person has all items for his role made from the same materials as the original, to museum quality construction. There is nothing modern on view either items or materials as the public has access to all areas to examine the items in use. There are few or no knights as to do this as living history would require at least 3 horses and clothing accessories of gold and silver. Also a suitable number of servants. Living History do not put on a spectacle they just LIVE and talk to the public about their craft or profession. They do not fight in a field for no reason but might do an assault on a house or a street fight or a pas d'armes IF IT FITS WITH THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EVENT. 2) Re enactment. This is for people who are as authentic as possible but put on a show for the public which does not necessarily have a historical reason. Some compromise is often made to authenticity for safety or presentation reasons. For example modern barriers to keep the public out of the battle field or archery area. 3) Pageant. This is nearest to theatre or the French town fete. It is entertainment with a historical theme. Clothing and equipment are representations and modern materials are often used for color, effect or convenience. What I would most seriously advise is that you avoid the idea that any one of these is superior to any other. There are people who do living history who have a very bad attitude to the others. Why ? We each do what we enjoy. I have met pageant people with a much deeper knowledge of history than me. We all just want to have fun in our own way. My own background is living history but I will enjoy anything historical. I did enjoy fighting with Xenia the warrior princess at one event. We can all learn from each other. Living history people are a good source of information. Pageant people can teach us a lot about how to entertain and get the jobs that help pay for our hobby. Montaguillon provides a good forum for this sort of exchange. GUN SAFETY I agree that there does not seem to be a good common code. I saw no strict separation of fire and powder : No sponging out between shots : No stopping of vents when ramming : No boiling out and oiling of guns at the end of EACH day to prevent rust inside the barrel which can lead to internal pitting which can hold sparks leading to premature discharge when reloading and the loss of the gunner's hand : No evidence of a rule forbidding any consumption of alcohol until the powder is safely locked away at the end of the day. If any one wants to discuss best gun practice I suggest they get in touch with the "Kyngs Ordynance" of Bristol who are specialists in medieval guns and have a superb safety record and code. They are usually at Tewkesbury and some of them will be at Cressing Temple market. I would also be happy to discuss this whenever we meet in France/Belgium/England or if urgent by telephone. Finally I would like to thank the organizers of Montaguillon for the event and the opportunity to enjoy the site and ambiance. I would also like to thank all the people there for the pleasure of their company. Colin Kendal dit Nicolas le Goddon